O My Rubber Nen

Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for Hunter x Hunter.

About

"O, My Rubber Nen" (sometimes stylised as "O MY RUBBER NEN") is a quote uttered by character Hisoka Morrow from the Japanese manga series Hunter x Hunter, on a scene where he's facing his inevitable death. The scene received mixed reception from the fans as some of them perceived it as a Deus Ex Machina, making that some online communities, like 4chan's anime and manga board /a/, used the quote as a phrasal template to mock alleged "asspulls" in manga series.

Origin

The scene comes from Hunter x Hunter's chapter 357 of the manga, released on June 13th, 2016. The chapter covers the conclusion of the fight between characters Chrollo Lucifer and Hisoka Morow, with Hisoka losing the battle after Chrollo blows him up with his ability. After being confirmed dead by a group of characters, Hisoka suddenly wakes up and explains character Machi that he survived by using his nen (energy that exists in the Hunter x Hunter universe and grants different abilities), injecting gum on his heart and lungs to restart them. The catchphrase can be seen on the fan scanlation from Mangastream, in a flashback describing the events right before his death, where he orders his nen to resurrect him after his death.

Spread

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Since the release of chapter 357, the phrase has become popular among the community for its absurdity. Some use it to mock hardcore fans of the franchise, referring it to as weak writing from the series's creator Yoshihiro Togashi. Due to the long and regular hiatuses the author takes from writing Hunter x Hunter, the community thrives on creating memes as content for discussions. These factors made the phrase spread to other discussions, using it to refer to any form of asspull or inconsistency by parodying it. For example; "O, My Friendship Punch".

External References